Whole New Playing Field
by Mr.Lemons
Summary: Freeman killed a predator, but that was just the beginning. The Yautja have returned, but not for humans this time. A war within a war. The Yutja want the Xenomorphs dead, the Combine want the Yautja taken care of, and the humans are stuck in the middle.
1. Introduction

This isn't exactly a sequel to my other story Freeman Vs. Predator so you don't have to read it, you can if you want though.

I have to point out that this is a cooperative effort. I am working with Screen Surfer on this.

So it goes like this...

Human Entries By:

Mr. Lemons

Yautja and Xenomorph Entries By:

Screen Surfer


	2. Signs

The ground was wet. Mud splashed all around the prowling squad. Victor was leading the pack, slowly he trudged through the brown slush. It seeped up in his pants, but his mind was fixated on the rest of the world. His eyes crawled across the landscape, slowly, awaiting any danger. He had his trusty shotgun in his hand with his finger wrapped tightly on the trigger. Dusk was rolling in on the begotten city once again. Night was coming. Sun gave it's last shed of light on the twisted metal and fallen concrete. Victor made his way though a maze of old burnt out cars. Seeming as though they were placed there by someone else. It was a depressing sight, but also a normal one to them.

"Can we get back to the base now?" a voice from the back of the squad squeaked. Victor took his time in looking back. "One more sweep around, none of us want any snipers putting bullets in our heads while we sleep. Am I right?" No one answered, it sounded rhetorical and was, however it easily silenced the protester.

Victor started walking once again, the squad did the same with no question. He kept his senses sharp, leaving no piece of land unattended too. "Hey! What the hell is that?" a woman shouted and pointed into the orange sky. Victor and the rest saw nothing at first. Squinting, they tried again. "I've never seen anything like it" the woman continues on. I was a group of three or four pod type objects, falling from the sky. It was unlike anything the Combine had ever used. Thus raising the first question. Could it really by the Combine's?

"They find a new way of transportation?" a man questioned from the back. "Where did they come from?" Victor directed the question at the woman who first spotted them. "I don't know, they just sort of appeared there." she said clueless. The pods continued down, eventually landing out of sight. Heads then shifted the Victor, who quietly stood there thinking. "What do you think Vic?" a soldier blurted out what everyone thought. Victor thought more as he looked at the sky, "Beats me, but I sure as hell know we got bigger problems" he then loosened his muscles. "Let's pack it in people" he gestured the safe symbol with his hands. People gave a sigh of relief to themselves and quickly turned to head back.

On the way back, Victor still thought about the pods. He acted like it didn't bother him, but it was still eating at him. He did keep reassuring himself that they were to far away to cause any damage, still he wondered. Although City 17 was a violent place, it still felt ordinary and routine, something like this is troubling. He tried not to think about it.

They returned to the base. A burrow underneath an old bridge, part of a subway tunnel, very livable for Victor and the rest of the crew. The guard was waiting for them, standing on top of the metal door. "You guys are early" he remarked. "Nothings heading this way, I think I'm starting to get paranoid with these patrols" Victor said. "Starting too?" the guard replied sarcastically. "We saw some weird...like pods or something in the sky" someone said from within the throng. Victor was hoping no one would mention it, he didn't feel like hearing it.

"What? Really, what were they?" the guard asked curiously. Before the man could say, Victor turned around and interrupted "We don't know but they were to far away to bother us" Victor explained, sounding irritated. It was quiet, the crowd silently acknowledged him. "Now, morning patrol get some rest" he said, then leaving the place alone. The guard pulled up the metal door with it's chain. It pulled up like a bridge on a mote.

The station was always surprising active during the evening. It seems everyone would try to get as much sleep as they could, but it was the only time they felt safe so they didn't want to waste it. Victor sat on an old wooden bench, slowly sipping his Breen water. He preferred vodka, but it was hard to come by in a post apocalyptic wasteland. He stared at the rest of the rebels and refugees. Some were playing cards, others were reading or talking to someone else. Some just sat there like Victor, thinking.

"Something on your mind Vick?" a voice came from the side of him. He looked over and saw the well respected rebel leader Barney. "Or is that tainted Breen water getting to your head, like I said it would" he says with a comedic tone. He goes back to his drink "Ah, we just saw something weird today." Barney then quickly switches to a serious face "What?".

Victor took a big sip of the water "Some new form of transportation or something."

"What do you mean?" Barney asked, eager for answers. "Some pods falling from the sky, I don't know" Victor tried to elaborate.

"How far were they?" Barney asked. "Eh, out in the city somewhere."

Barney took a breath of relief "Well then whats the big damn deal, who cares if they're way the hell out there" he said.

"I guess, it just seemed out of place. You know?" Victor said, still concerned. "You're just being paranoid, you always were. What have I told you about that?" Barney said rhetorically. "Yeah, I guess" Victor said but still not completely convinced. "Well, I got to get some sleep, morning patrol tomorrow" he said as he got up and walked pass Barney. "Good night, don't let the head crabs bite" Barney's fading voice uttered.

Victor stumbled into his room. It was nothing more than a hollowed supply closet or some sort of storage room, depressing and gray. He would have liked to sleep with the rest of the group out on mattresses in the middle of the main room, but everyone insisted that he had his own room, being the captain of the station.

He trudges to his bed and squatted down on the dirty mattress. He didn't realize he was exhausted until that moment. He laid back and grabbed his old comforter. He took off his ski cap and kicked off his shoes. Mud was covering his socks, but Victor was to tired to care. He then placed his head on the pillow less bed. He was still thinking about the pods, but gave way quickly to his fatigue. He then nodded off to another black night.

"Vick...hey Vick...Mr. Vick" the words were distant and annoying. Victor slowly opened his eyes, rather raw from the night before. "Vick, come on buddy, I think I'm getting a message from Kleiner, probably important" Barney said as he stood in his door way wearing the same Metro Police outfit. Victor began to rise in his bed, wearily. He rubbed his eyes, still feeling exhausted "Alright...alright I'm up." Barney gave no hesitation "Come on" he said leaving Victor.

He felt like falling back down in his bed, but knew Barney would just come back. He swung his legs over the bed. It was cold, as always. In the morning everything felt as if it had a coat of ice on it. Victor rose out of the bed, legs feeling shaky. As he slipped on his shoes he uttered to himself "Ugh, I miss coffee."

When Victor entered the room he saw a rebel trying to get a signal on a small television monitor. He was fiddling with the antenna on top of it. Barney stood there watching. A fuzzy picture of what seemed to be Dr. Kleiner's face. "There! Right there!" Barney shouted. The man with the antenna froze and the picture came in clear. "Barney...Barney is that you!?" Kleiner said with his face up to the screen. "Yeah it's me Doc. What's the word?" Barney asked. "Existential! Truly amazing!" he yelled into the screen. "What is it?" Barney asked earnestly. Victor was also curious, but Kleiner did tend to get excited over small things. "I may have discovered a new species!" he said raising a finger in the air like a true scientist. "I saw a...there is a...just watch!" Kleiner took a small monitor and held it up the the screen. "This was a transmission that came from one of our outposts near the shoreline" he said as the monitor trickled on.

It came on and showed a black monster. It had human arms but much larger, it's teeth oozed with saliva. It's head came so far back. It's spiked tail whipped out in front of it. Victor had seen a lot of creatures, scary creatures, but this one took the cake. It looked like some sort of demon from the bible. Something on a cave painting. It may have been on a screen, but it was almost right there in front of him. He felt his stomach knot up and a shiver go down his spine.

The alien on the screen then easily swung his tail into a rebel soldier, bursting out his chest. He then grabbed another helpless man and crushed his head like a melon. It quickly took it's tail and stabbed a woman trying to run up the beach. It pierced right through her skull without a stopping even a bit. The beast looked at the camera and smashed it's head into it, the screen went black.

Kleiner pulled the monitor away and put his head in it's place. "Wonderful isn't it?" he said in a cheery tone. "So what Doc? Another monster that can kill us no problem. What are you so happy about?" Barney asked, seemingly unaffected by the video. "Yes, but there is a part two, to this epic" Kleiner put the monitor up to the screen again. It shuttered back in, the camera was in the same position but the setting was different. This time Combine soldiers were on the scene. The same monster was there and the soldiers frantically fired at it. The bullets didn't seem to do much damage, only made the thing angrier. It easily took it's tail and swatted them away like flies. Their lifeless bodies flew everywhere. Even the Combine was wisped away by this beast. Then Victor saw something that was even more troubling. A second one jumped into the background. It was just as terrifying as the first.

Victor gulped. Kleiner pulled the monitor away once again. "That's what I like about them" proclaimed Dr. Kleiner. He started again "Much like the antlions, if we're able too control these...things, then we will have yet another gain on the Combine, all we need is one of their bodies too study, we could learn all sorts of things about it's anatomy, and possibly how to control it " he said. "I don't know Doc, these things don't look like they'll let us just strap a leash on it" Barney protested. "Well of course not, that's where you come in Victor" he said with a fake smile. Victor was numb for a moment, he was in disbelief, thinking that Dr. Kleiner asked him to face this monster. "You're the closest outpost to the shore. All you need to do is restrain or kill one and bring it back to my lab" he explained.

Victor took a step forward "Kleiner, you've got to be kidding? You expect me to get a hold of one of these things, somehow hide it from the Combine and drag it halfway through the city to your" he said annoyed. "Well...you make it sound so hard" Kleiner said stupefied. "Alright hold on" Barney stepped in. "Vick if you can get one of those things we'll create a channel of refugees and rebels to discreetly get it to Kleiner's lab." He explained the new plan. "All you need to do is capture one" he said. "Ok, fine" Victor gave in but didn't feel happy about it.

Victor slowly pushed the shells into his shotgun. He had a knot in his stomach, but tried to suppress it. He didn't want to show fear in front of the other rebels. The hearty Russian known as Vlad walked up to Victor, he then dropped a giant steel ring on the ground followed by a heaping pile of chain. In his deep slow voice "This is what we'll use to snag 'em." Victor looked up at him, intimidated. He took a gulp "Well, that will do fine, thank you Vlad" he let out. The monster of man then stomped away, leaving the chains in front of Victor. He then knelt down and began to secure his shoes, something he learned to do before hand. After nearly being rundown and killed by Metro Cops while fleeing to a rebel base. He had to desert them and run with his socks, he learned the hard way to always secure his shoes. He wore tennis shoes, he was extremely lucky to find a pair in his size. Most of the other men were envious.

Then a familiar voice spilled his ears "I don't know about this one Vick." He gave way of his boot tying and looked up, he saw the nervous his best friend. Frank, the African American he met while running from the first raided shelter. They'd lived with each other for five years in City 17, never taking their eyes of each other's back. They really were best friends, blood brothers. "Come on now, no alien is a match for the us, especially with the _Incredible Hulk_ over there" Victor said optimistically pointing at Vlad. Frank gave out a weak laugh, then quickly went back to his serious face "I don't know man, I got a bad feeling about this" he admitted. Victor got up he inched over to Frank and gracefully placed his hand on the man's shoulder "Relax, I got your back, no alien is going to kill you without going through me first" he patted the Frank's shoulder. He let our a small but earnest smile "Alright buddy, but I get the first shot" he said back to him. "No problem" Victor winked. Victor abruptly released his hand and went for his shotgun "Alright, get your shit together, we're going to the beach" he addressed to Frank.


	3. A Bumpy Landing

A small flash was the only evidence of its arrival. The sleek ship glided  
through space toward the small ocean planet, its native inhabitants and their  
oppressors oblivious to its arrival. Onboard the 200 meter long ship was a  
small clan of Yautja hunters of 50, half of them awake, sparing in the pits or  
polishing their weapons, the other half sleeping, for the mission later. Elder  
Gro'shk Nal of the RoklnBane clan stood in the launch room. He stared at the  
side terminal, reading over the objectives given by the Elder Circle to go to  
Terra. The Ti'tanthi Bad Bloods have been tracked to Terra, no doubt hunting  
the Oomans. He flicked a holographic button, created by laser and sensors. The  
terminal screen switched to a picture of the planet. Bellesha.(1) The word  
echoed in Gro'shk's mind. A word like it does not exist in the Yautja  
language. The clicking of the undeveloped voicebox and the grunts that make of  
the vocabulary of their race doesn't inspire beauty of any kind. Gro'shk  
adopted it after hunting a bad blood that fled to Terra with a dangerous  
combination of pathogens, almost eight hundred years ago. The bad blood  
intended to wipe out humanity with these pathogens, but after being trapped he  
managed to infect a few merchants from "Italy." The disease spread through the  
most advanced culture on the planet, wiping out half of its population.(2)

Yautja only travel to the founding planet for very few reasons. Mostly for  
the final hunt, the hunting of a sentient species. But very rarely, bad bloods  
will travel to this planet to hunt the Oomans. There are several laws against  
hunting Oomans, primarily because they are sentient. However, deep inside the  
innermost circle of Yautja society, the high elders fear that the Oomans will  
discover what trespassed against them during the cycle of their species. And  
will one day wage a blood war.

The hatch slid open, and Gro'shk saw Fru'ik Nal enter the launch room. He  
bowed to one knee, a gesture saying "you are stronger, you are leader," before  
rising again. "We have entered orbit over the Founder World." He said, using  
the title for Terra where the two ultimate prey were found. It is unknown  
among most Yautja society that the Kande Amedha were actually found on Terra,  
along with the Oomans. Most thought that the Yautja moved them to Terra for  
easier hunting grounds. It is called the Founder World, because the strongest  
prey, the hard meat, as well as the smartest prey, the soft meat were found.  
However the RoklnBane Clan knew better.

"Yes I have seen. When will we be able to launch the pods?" he questioned.  
Fru'ik opened his arm bracer, several intersecting lines formed numbers. 10  
minutes.

"Ready the hunting parties. We will find this bad blood before one moon of  
the planet. (3). Ooman orbital satellites are getting more and more advanced  
every cycle, Yautja stealth systems are cutting it as it is. Fru'ik did not  
move. "Are you challenging my order Fru'ik?" He said testily.

"No honorable elder!" He said, raising his hands in a submissive gesture.  
"You said you would want to know of any unknowns about the Oomans." Yes he did.  
Oomans build more and more powerful equipment. Any irregularities would need  
to be reported to the Elder council. "There are no artificial satellites over  
the Founder World." That came as a massive surprise to Gro'shk. Oomans have  
dozens of satelites over Terra. They should not have disappeared.

"Is there any tracks as to where they've gone?"

"No honorable elder. But there is much wreckage in orbit over the planet." He  
said. Wreckage? Did something come through and destroy all the satellites? This  
does not make any sense to him. A thought suddenly occured. Could the bad  
blood have come through and destroyed it with the stolen huntership's  
missiles? The thought of the Oomans discovering the Yautja frightened him.

Suddenly a bright flash flared on the viewscreen. His head snapped to the  
planet to see a glowing bubble of energy spread out from the planet, covering  
the entire terrestrial and moving past it, towards their ship.(4) Brace  
yourself!" He yelled to Fru'ik, who then grabbed onto a nearby handhold for  
when the gravity fails. The energy wave surged throughout the ship, setting  
of a low pitched alarm. The ship shuddered. A few of the mechanical objects  
overloaded with captured energy, sending sparks through various decks. However  
the most surprising was the sudden appearance of creatures across the ship.  
Most of them were flopping on the deck, like a fish out of water. However a  
few of them appeared to be like the Kande Amedha implanters, and even fewer  
appeared to be massive insects. One such insect appeared in the launch room  
upside down, kicking its legs in all directions. Fru'ik spotted the creature  
and jumped on it. His 450 lb body trapped its legs beneath him, stopping the  
beast from righting itself. He lifted a giant muscular fist, before punching  
down with the force of a sledgehammer, crushing the insects skull. Gro'shk did  
not bother and berating Fru'ik for not challenging it to combat, but he  
realized, and understood that Fru'ik probably did too, that there are more  
important things happening on the ship than a single battle. Like the power  
failure for instance.

Gro'shk cursed as he felt weightless. The worse feeling in the world, he  
thought as he grabbed for a handhold. Knowing, feeling, that the mighty muscle  
of the Yautja would not be nearly as powerful when the weight of the blow is  
not behind it. He heard a deep roar echo through the ship, a battle cry, or a  
call of protest. He couldn't understand it from this distance. He heard the  
hum of secondary power come online before the gravity did, and managed to  
brace himself for the noxious weight change. He landed on his feat, and was  
briefly amused, but more annoyed as Fru'ik crashed to the ground. Warriors of  
his calibre shouldn't appear to be such fools. He took off at a run down the  
hallway, making careful turns before arriving at his sleeping chambers. He  
strapped on his battle armor, covering his upper chest, leg braces and small  
flaps on his belt to cover his sides and groin. He hefted his spear gun to his  
back, along with his plasma caster onto his shoulder. Strapping his utility  
belt onto his waist he loaded it with extra speargun shots, discbombs, and a  
holster for his combistick. Grabbing the final piece of equipment, his highly  
decorated mask, marked with the same scars that he wears on his own face.  
Sliding it on, he felt somehow...complete. Plugging in the airtubes that  
capture more air for their massive lungs, he set across the ship and back to  
the launch room.

Upon arriving, he saw only eight other Yautja, five of them being unblooded  
with the worst equipment. Equipment that all unblooded use are decades old,  
past down from unblooded to unblooded as they gain their rights. They all  
knelt as he entered, a showman of their discipline and eagerness to please.  
Gro'shk scoffed. He was one of the few that believed in duty over honor.  
Respect is due, but not in a situation like this. He gestured for the drop  
pods. Thirty three pods lined the walls. He sequenced them to land in two  
separate areas. Fru'ik and Trag are to lead three unblooded to hunt the  
badblood. Him and two others are to find out what weapon the Oomans used to  
disable them and teleport creatures onto their ship. Nine pods slid open, the  
hunters ran in to eight of them. Gro'shk stood at the entrance to his pod when  
he heard the moans echo into the hallway.

He stared at the doorway as a shadow fell on the floor by the door. Whatever  
it is, it is slow, and small, wobbling to the launch room. He pulled out his  
combistick and extended it to its 1.5 meter length. He walked slowly to the  
doorway, the creature's moan getting ever closer. Suddenly a small, bloody red  
hand appeared on the door frame. He grabbed it with his empty hand and spun,  
throwing the unknown creature into the room. His mandibles tightened as he saw  
its Ooman body crash into the wall. It stood up immediately, yet sluggishly.  
Its body was dressed in a blue body armor, equipment pouchested the vest. He  
spotted a firearm on his waist, but it didn't go for it. But the otherworldy  
thing about it was the creature engulfing its head. It seemed to just sit  
there, doing nothing as the Ooman wobbled after him again, this time quicker,  
and in a rush. It took a swing at him, but he caught the fist. He was surprised  
at the amount of force in its punch. It would have caused a serious bruise if  
he didn't avoid the strike.

He impaled him on his combistick, only piercing the armor from the force of  
his strike. He noticed the lack of pain the Ooman showed, and guessed that the  
creature on its head seemed to be controlling it somehow. He grabbed at it and  
pulled. It cried out in terror and tightened its hold on the head of the  
Ooman. Suddenly the Ooman's arm went to its vest, and pulled out a small  
cylinder. A red light on it flashed on, and a small beep was emitted from it.  
Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep.Beep.Beep. He threw his combistick away from him,  
the Ooman and its cylinder still attached with it. An explosion echoed across  
the ship, and Gro'shk felt the flare of heat.

He hurried back to the pod entrance as other moans started to reach him. He  
turned to look at the doorway to the launchbay just as a fellow Yautja stepped  
through. From its armor it showed that it was a full blooded veteran. What  
chilled his blood was the faceless creature swallowing the hunters face.  
Grabbing an explosive disc, he threw it at the Yautja and jumped in the pod.  
And explosion echoed as he was launched to the surface of the planet. He will  
find out who caused this atrocity, and they will pay with blood.

Deep beneath City 17, an entity awoke. At first it was quiet, everything was  
quiet. The water in the cave kept the peace, but now that the water is gone,  
the entity is awake.  
It stretched its senses to cover the continent, looking for host. Few of its  
children survived the fire from the skies, but there are a few to capture  
these new host. It studied the new host it will take and was filled with  
happiness. Such weak host will be easy to capture and eat. This time, not even  
the massive creatures from old will terrorize their hives and attack their  
queens. This time, it will not stop until this world is won. Just like  
before.

(1) Bellezza is the italian word for beauty, however since Yautja can't make  
Z sounds so Shh sounds replace it.

(2) The Bubonic Plague wiped out half the population in Europe. If it didn't  
occur, Europe would have the population of China.

(3) One Moon of a planet is one month. A full moon is a moon, everything else  
is just crescents.

(4) A portal storm, one of the many on Earth.

Yautja weapons: Combistick (spear), Plasmacaster, bombdisc (disc that stick  
to walls and explode via detonator, if they touch a living creature they  
explode instantly), Speargun (shoots giant nails that can rip the head off of  
the body), Disc, Netgun, Maul (Two blades that extend straight kinda like  
wristblades but there is a handle for it and longer), Plasmapistol (shoots  
plasma in a long arch, has repeater and shockwave) Wristbomb, fission bomb  
that covers 1 kilometer diameter.


	4. The Begotten Outpost

They arrived at the outskirts of the outpost. "Ok, its just beyond this rock" Victor explained, he then set himself on the edge of the boulder. "Listen guys" he began in a strong and serious tone "I don't know what's going to happen, these monsters are like nothing we've seen before...they're pretty bad though, however we've been fighting for a long time, we know a thing or two about how to behave on a battlefield, be it man or beast we can't lose our cool. Understand?" the squad all nodded in agreement. "We can do this" Victor never realized it, but his number one priority in battle was to stay calm. He knew it would be a bit of a challenge at this point, he barely kept calm while watching the transmission.

He gave them all a hand gesture to signal that he'd be the first around the rock. He then got his gun ready and pivoted around it. He was instantly greeted by a heap of dead Combine soldiers. They all lie on the sand. Most of them were missing limbs. The stink was unbearable, Victor quickly brought his hand to his nose. A few men followed behind him, all realizing the same smell. Someone then said it "Damn...place needs an air freshener." a squad member blurted. Victor then collect his thoughts after the shock of the stench went away. "Alright people, keep a sharp eye, wouldn't be surprised if this thing is watching us." Victor said as he began to move down the shore.

He came to what was obviously the entrance of the station. It was nothing more than two large boulders with a wooden sign run across the top. _Sandy Hook _the name of the outpost was written on it in thick black ink. Inside it was a large tarp covering the the top, it kept the sun out. There were wooden beams all across, holding it up. A few tables stood with weapons and radio equipment and so on. There were a few dead rebels, not as many as Victor had expected. The transmission did take place outside however. Something still didn't feel right however, he felt a sense of being watched.

A hand gently touched his back and he jerked around and pointed his gun at where it came from. Frank's hands shot up like rockets. "Oh, Frank...you the...never mind" Victor said, relieved. "Find anything?" Frank asked. "No, lets go see if we can find where the transmission came from" Victor ordered.

They came outside the exit of the tent. There were more bodies, lots more. These ones seemed to have been killed more gruesomely. There were tears all over their skin and blood still seeping from them. "My God" a nameless rebel sprouted. "I can see why Kleiner wants one" Frank said. "Look!" Victor shouted pointing at a camera. He walked over to it "This is what recorded, we're getting close" he said. "Uh Vick, you might want to see this." Frank said dumbfounded. He pointed at a tree that sat on a rock above the outpost. There was a dead tree, but something was hanging from it.

Bodies, skinned bodies. Victor slowly started toward them, Frank followed. There were swinging like meat, hanging upside down. "Damn" Victor quietly commented. "Are those ours?" Frank questioned. "Na, look at the stomachs, they're Combine" Victor pointed out. "You think that monster did this?" Frank asked. "I don't know, who else would have?" Victor paused "But why would it skin them here and just leave their bodies at the entrance?" Victor asked himself.

A screech hit their ears. It came from over a large boulder near the side of the exit. The attention of the squad turned to it. Victor then quickly ran to it "What the Hell was that?" he asked fruitlessly. Another screech came up, it sounded organic, not of a machine. "Get down!" Victor flashed a sign. The group went to their bellies. Victor crawled up onto the rock, he scooted up onto the end of it. Frank was next to him once again.

Slowly Victor peaked over the edge. He saw a black blur at first, which then appeared to be the creature. Luckily it was facing the other way. It stood there, almost lifeless but still did something that resembled breathing. Victor swallowed the lump in his throat and turned to his squad. "Peterson" he whispered, gesturing for the man. Slowly Peterson walked up behind Victor and laid next to him. "Yes sir?" his voice quivered. "I want you to get the chains, go up behind the thing and ring the leash around it." Victor ordered. Peterson hesitated "Alright" he said shaking once again.

Peterson slowly crept up, he had the chain in his hands. It rattled gently as he put his foot in the sand. The whole squad could hear his breathing. He made no noise walking in the sand but his legs were undoubtedly shaking. The creature didn't seem to notice, it still stood the opposite direction. Victor watched eagerly, hoping for the best. Suddenly a flash of white fire, Peterson was blown back and the creature flew off on it's side. Victor jumped up, along with the rest of the men. "What the Hell!?" he yelled out. Peterson looked up at him in disbelief. Frank grabbed his arm and pointed on the cliff to their side, that rose higher than the rest of the rocks. "Look!" he shouted. An outline, something that resembled water flashed and then disappeared. "What happened?" someone yelled from the back. Victor snapped back into reality. "Frank we're going after what ever that was, the rest of you chain the creature while it's wounded" he gave the command.

Victor wasted no time in climbing the rock. He got up and found himself looking down a stretch of sand guarded by rocks on each side. He grunted and started to run down it with his shotgun ready. Questions wen through his mind. What in God's name was it? He thought. When he reached the end of the strip of land he found he was looking off another cliff, but this one went over a hundred feet down, into the ocean. "No way" Frank said. "It couldn't have gone down there" he followed up. They both heard a rapid clicking sound behind them. They both turned and saw two eyes appear on a boulder shielding the side of the passage. They were a flash of yellow then disappeared. The outline then leaped across their heads an onto the next boulder. It was then gone.

Frank and Victor stood there. All they could hear was the faint thumping of the antlion trap. They both stared fiercely, but there was nothing.

Frank just shook his head and threw his hands down "Man what the Hell is going on?" he said annoyed.

Victor knew it was rhetorical. He stilled stared at the empty rock. Whatever the thing was it seemed to be after the same thing as them. Victor's mind snatched the memory of the pods. He then knew they must have had something to do with this odd turn of events. But what was that? Is it possible that it was the Combine's. Do they have some sort of new technology? Something that makes them disappear, some sort of new lasers. Things didn't add up for Victor.

They rejoined the rest of the team who were able to get the leash around the wounded alien. It seemed to be incapable of moving. Victor cautiously walked up to it and starred at it. He still fear it even though it appeared immobile. Victor let his hand out slowly to touch it. It exploded into movement and busted clear of the chain. Victor was blown back. It hopped up and starred at him. Victor knew he was a goner, but then it just turned and ran off.

"Fire!" Frank yelled. An eruption of gunshots came from behind Victor. The monster kept running almost unaffected by the shots. It then found it's way to the antlion thumper it crawled up and snapped the button with it's tail. It gave a screech at the men and then just stood gazing at the humans. The firing stopped and a rumble began to arise from underground. "Get to the rocks!" Victor said as he sprang up.

He began to run to the nearest rock. He felt sand hit his neck from an antlion bursting from underneath it. He heard the wretched sound of it's wings flapping. He turned and launched himself backwards, he met the antlion and quickly blasted it apart with his shotgun. He landed butt first on a rock. He was safe, from attracting anymore. Other people had no problem with that. Some men just ran around yelling, scared to death. Others were smart enough to catch a rock. He heard more gunshots and yells of his squad members. He heard the wings of antlions and their call as well.

Out in the distance he saw the alien, whipping them away with his tail. It seemed to have little trouble in taking them out. One of the antlions snapped at his head, it was stopped by a set of hands. Victor looked up and saw Frank holding it back. "Where you at Vick?" he said grinding his teeth. Victor blew the bug away with his shotgun and stood back up. Another jumped up next to him, Victor acted quick enough to blow it apart. "We got to get that thumper back on!" Victor yelled over the chaos. "I'm on it!" Frank grinned. "Wait!" Victor protested, but Frank was out of hearing range.

He across the first stretch of rocks, past a few rebels frantically shooting down antlions. He paused before the sand and took a deep breath. He ran out onto the sand, a few bugs flew past him and some humans ran past desperately trying to reach the rocks. Frank kept a steady run down the beach.

Victor looked up at the alien still on the thumper. He feared what would happen when Frank finally reached it. A lump formed in his throat, he knew Frank was no match for it. His thoughts were interrupted by the wings of an antlion buzzing at him. He took an aggressive shot at it, its yellowish guts spewed onto the sand. A disturbing sight to most. Victor looked back up at Frank charging toward the thumper. How he couldn't see the monster was a mystery. He knew he had no choice, he stepped his _Converse_ in the sand and began the race toward the thumper. Maybe, just maybe he could save Frank.

He ran though the sand with the same antlions buzzing by his head. "Frank!" he shouted, but Frank was just to far ahead to hear over the commotion. Victor picked up the pace, he pushed his legs to the limit. "Frank!" he tried again starting to wither away from the sounds of battle. Victor made a final push as Frank started to run low on energy. He was just in range of extending an arm to him. "Fr-" he was cut off when another bug ran into him. It slammed Victor like a windshield bringing him down to the ground. He rustled for his gun, but it wasn't there, it must have flew out during the fall. The antlion's teeth came down at Victor's face. He quickly shot his knife into it's abdomen. He felt the warm goo spill onto his stomach. He gagged as the bug shrieked and fell on top of him.

He pushed the carcass off. He didn't normally have his knife latched on his belt, pure luck that he had it there today. He sat back up and saw Frank. He was standing there starring at the monster on top of the thumper. However it was gazing at the human and antlion battle being fought. Victor was relieved that Frank had finally spotted it. He tried as quickly as he could to stand up, just as Frank grabbed the bottom of the latter. "No!" Victor shouted. Frank started to make his way up, about half way up the ladder he raised his smg.

Frank fired off a few rounds but they had little to no effect on the monster. It looked down and grabbed Frank's head. "No!" Victor shouted again, running to the aid of his friend. The alien raised him up by his head and slammed him down on the metal platform. Victor fell to his knees in shock.

The monster was about to take a second blow but it jerked it's head to the side. It looked spooked. It then jumped off the thumper into the sand. It scurried off into the distance, disappearing over a forest of rocks. It had left the humans for the time being.

Victor was still kneeling in the sand. The fighting behind him was still going strong. Someone in his squad shouted "Gunships! Incoming!" Although Victor was ravished, he still heard it. He got up and ran back toward the outpost.

Frank was lying there, his back felt broken. He looked up and saw the button to engage the thumper. With last breath he raised up and slammed his fist down on it. He felt the rumbles of it turn on. This gave him a smirk. He and Victor always talked about how _they'd go down together._ It wasn't the case in real life, but what gave him the smirk, the tiny speck of happiness, was knowing his best friend was safe.

Victor found an opening between two rocks. He hurried over to them and place himself in the opening. He didn't realized that Frank turned on the thumper. "He did it, son of a bitch did it" Victor murmured to himself. A final antlion was trying to escape the booming ground, it was struck by a bullet and fell to the ground sliding across the sand.

Out from the blue sky over the rocks came to gunships. They fell an odd organic style and scanned the area. They were like insects scouring for food. Luckily the others were smart enough to find hiding spots. Even when one of them hovered above Victor, it saw nothing. They picked off a few antlions here and there but nothing else. It did worry Victor that they obviously hadn't seen the alien.

The monsters then flew away leaving the area the bloody, gooey, mess that it was. People quickly jumped from their hiding spots, but Victor took his time. He wasn't excited to move back into a world without Frank. He looked at the machine stamping into the sand.

"Should we return to base?" a faceless soldier asked. "Yes, lets collect the dead first" Victor said unenthusiastically as he started near the thumper.

He climbed the ladder, lamenting each step. He got to the top and was greeted with Frank's lifeless body. He way lying on his belly, with his face down into the metal. Victor gracefully turned him on his back. Frank's eyes were wide open, Victor slowly shut them with his hand. He sat there and starred at Frank's blank face. He then reached into Frank's pant pocket and pulled out a dirty key chain with a _Superman _symbol. Victor slipped it his pocket. "Heh, I always thought you'd be taking the _Batman_ one off me" Victor said with a fake smile. Victor turned away from Frank, he looked out to the rocks where the alien escaped. "It will pay Frank...you hear me, it will definitely pay"


End file.
